Hearthstone is Getting More Expensive for Players in Canada, Japan, and New Zealand on Nov 16
Attention! It looks like pack prices on Battle.net are not the same as Google Play and are actually cheaper.
Looking specifically at Canada, players will be charged $62.99 CAD, or $49.39 USD at current exchange rates for the expansion pre-order. This post's numbers are no longer accurate but are being kept for historical purposes. Pitchforks can be laid to rest for now!
Pricing changes are coming to Battle.net! Players in Canada, Japan, and New Zealand are currently charged in USD but starting tomorrow, players in these regions will be charged in their local currencies.
- The changes affect prices on Battle.net, In-Game Shops, and your Blizzard Balance.
- Blizzard Balance you currently have in USD will convert using the exchange rate when the transition occurs.
It should be noted that when Hearthstone last updated, the prices on Google Play changed to the point where it's actually more expensive to buy things in these currencies due to the exchange rate being better than what they've priced packs at. If this same pricing applies to Battle.net, you're better buying the Kobolds pre-order now to save some money.
Country | New Price | Price Today | Price Increase | USD Increase |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | C$69.99 | C$63.86 | C$6.13 | $4.80 |
Japan | 6000¥ | 5646¥ | 355¥ | $3.14 |
New Zealand | NZ$79.99 | NZ$72.69 | NZ$7.30 | $5.02 |
As seen in the above table, we've got price increases across the board for these regions assuming Blizzard will be charging the same price on Battle.net that they are charging on Google Play, which in order to be in terms with Google Play's policies, they will need to be.
To play devil's advocate for a moment, it's understandable that they want to keep round pricing as it's easier to understand for consumers, and currencies do fluctuate on a daily basis. By charging a bit more than the day-to-day exchange rate, Blizzard is preventing themselves from losing any money when things may change in favor of the above countries.
Does it need to be as steep of an increase as it is though? Could they not simply adjust their pack prices more often if they need to be increased for certain countries based on their economic situations? Tell us what you think about it in the comments.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have an expansion to pre-order before tomorrow.
Blog Post
Quote from BlizzardIn October, we announced that we’ll be converting from USD to local currency on Blizzard Battle.net® in Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. These changes will begin to roll out in these regions within the next 24 hours.
For players in these regions, Blizzard Balance will be unavailable during the brief update process, but purchases can be made using other payment methods. Any purchases made during this period will be processed in local currency.
For World of Warcraft® subscribers, the recurring subscription will continue to be charged in USD for the next 12 months. If there’s any interruption to your subscription, however—including an expired card, changes in payment methods, or account cancellations—any new subscriptions will be charged in your local currency.
We want to make as many of our players as possible feel at home in the Blizzard ecosystem, and make managing your account with us easier. By switching from USD to local currency, we’re expanding the types of payment we accept and helping some of you avoid paying transaction fees charged by financial institutions.
Please see our announcement in October for more information and follow @BlizzardCSfor the latest updates.
Why are they being increased? Did the price of printing these card go up or something?
I don't think non-Canadians understand the situation. $49.99 USD = $63.88 CAD as of writing this comment. Blizzard is putting the cost at $69.99 CAD. Blizzard is charging Canadians (and other non-Americans) more than Americans for the same service, AFTER taking into account the conversion rates and fees. Hearthstone was already getting too expensive, this is just too much.
Also, back when it was $49.99 CAD for pre-order and for 40 pack lots, that equaled about the same as the discount Americans got for using Amazon coins. So no, Canadians weren't getting Hearthstone packs for less than they were supposed to, we were getting a discount the same as Americans got. The last time I bought hearthstone packs, it would have actually been something like $49.91 CAD for 40 packs had I bought the Amazon Coins off of the US amazon.
this actually brings up some valid points..But luckily we arent forced to by anything, what a relief! Everyone who disagrees shouldnt buy! whos with me?!
That is precisely the American (USA)'s way : anything that isn't United-States of America is by default EU ..! ^^
My Canadian heart now knows how it feels, and how it must have felt all along for European :(
Hey cool blizzard fuck you, it was already really expensive in Canada.
Expensive is relative. In Germany (Europe) we pay 59 USD (converted). But yeah, the game is expensive. But we all buy! Customers decide! ^^
Even if you buy 1 or 2 more batches which are even more expensive, you don't really get enough cards. But some decent dust, to craft some cards to be competitive.
I pre-ordered with amazon coins in Germany right now and payed 38,5€ (~45$). Feels reasonable for me
It's not only about a "currency adjustment" . Hearthstone gets more and more expensive with all the actions they take. After the good old classic and gvg time, they first came up with the "3 expansions a year" idea which is still understandable. Then, they removed the adventure expansions. You could just pay an affordable amount of money or gold to get EVERY card in the set. From a card pack, with similar investment, you should be lucky to get even 2 legendaries and a handful of epics. Last but not least, they introduced us the "class legendaries". Quests and the Death Knights. Quests was still not that bad, they were used mostly in meme and tier2+decks (except rogue ofcourse). But the Death Knights oh my god. 6 of 9 DK's are used in nearly every decks of the regarding class. Even other 3 (hunter, rogue, paladin) are used in a lot of decks and i believe they will become better with the upcoming expansions. That means among every other stuff (epics, rares, neutrals) you need to pay a 1600 more dust to even have a competetive deck of that class. God I'm so salty i know but... C'mon guys it's not just about a few dollars. The expenses are doubled even tripled. I mean I can't blame them for doing this, I'm playing since closed beta and still continue doing so but still, I'm getting more and more concerned about this issue.
What about the action of giving out 1 legendary for free each expansion, guaranteeing a legendary in the first 10 packs and also eleminating getting dupe legandaries ? :) It's not all bad
For long the pack remain costing 100 gold and the diary quest continues give the same always have I don't give a shit.
I get that this sucks for other countries, but platforms like GOG and Steam have been doing this forever. So be it. Stop the whining. It's global economy. Blame the banks, not Blizzard. It's also a matter of fees for converting currencies, which in itself is ridiculous considering it's just data, but that's how it is.
expansion coming in a few weeks! Hype train all aboard!
Blizzard: yo Canada, Japan, and New Zealand wait, there's been a price change so pay up
This is always going to be controversial. For example, Kripp made a video about the price increase in Canada...but starts the video by saying how Canadians payed less than Americans for Hearthstone packs...was that when it was "fair"? its hard to say. I understand completely how this is frustrating, but the fact is that currency by unit is not equal...imagine if you ran a company and people in America bought your product for $50 USD, and people in Canada bought it for $39 USD(50 canadian $) and people in Mexico bought it for $3 USD(50 peso) etc... it literally becomes a discount if their currency is weaker than the American dollar... I know we all like Hearthstone, but Blizzard is a business so this makes sense....my body is ready for the hate lol
The price of $50.00 in Canada feels exactly the same as an American with $50.00. You guys pay probably like a 5.00 a jug of milk? Same as us in Canada, despite the US having a stronger dollar. No hate to Americans at all by this post. Just saying... $70.00 vs $50.00 is as huge a difference to hearthstone players in Canada/UK/Japan as it would be if they decided to hike the American cost up to the same value.
well, thats not how the world and economy works...
but yeah, just because a nice newbuilt flat in London (UK) costs £2200/mo, everyone should pay the same in the whole world... (well I guess the ppl in Tokio would be happy with that ;) )
also they never lower the price when the currency changes that way and tbh that's why we feel it unfair and greedy.
I totally understand the economic factor behind the decision, and I agree with what you are saying. I just think for a product that is virtual and online, it seems really greedy to price everything across board based on the estimated current american value they place on their product. To me it would seem like they would make MORE money, by proportionally pricing the product rather than hiking the price and pushing a good portion of their international market over the line and having them not by their products at all.
not disagreeing with you :P just saying for those of us in countries outside the US where the prices are going up, it's getting to a point where it's becoming way too costly to enjoy the game.
I get it, I really do.
But maybe the best time to say an expansion is going to cost more isn't two weeks after you've announced it
When IS the best time? Actually asking, as I can't imagine a date that would magically make people okay with it.